Oil Trades Near Highest Level in Four Months on Economic Outlook

Oil traded near the highest level in four months, after a seventh weekly gain, as signs of economic growth that may boost fuel emand countered speculation supplies are ample.

West Texas Intermediate crude was little changed after climbing 0.3 percent last week. Chinese industrial companies’ profits rose for a fourth month in December, the National Bureau of Statistics in Beijing said yesterday.

U.S. government reports today may show durable goods orders and pending homes sales advanced last month, according to Bloomberg News surveys. The oil market is “well supplied,” Khalid al-Falih, Saudi Arabian Oil Co.’s chief executive, said Jan. 26 in Davos, Switzerland.

“The outlook on demand seems to be more positive,” Robin Mills, the head of consulting at Dubai-based Manaar Energy Consulting and Project Management and a former Middle East specialist at Royal Dutch Shell Co., said by telephone Jan. 27. “Last week the outlook seemed to be looking up.”

Crude for March delivery was at $95.91 a barrel, up 3 cents, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 8:09 a.m. Singapore time. The contract fell 7 cents to $95.88 on Jan. 25. WTI has posted the longest run of weekly gains since April 2009 and closed at $96.24 on Jan. 22, the highest since Sept. 17.

Brent for March settlement rose 3 cents to $113.31 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark contract was at a premium of $17.39 to West Texas Intermediate futures for the same month. The gap was $17.40 on Jan. 25.

U.S. durable goods orders probably climbed 2 percent in December from the prior year after rising 0.7 percent in November, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. Pending home sales probably gained 12.5 percent, a separate survey shows.

(Source: Bloomberg)